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I'm making a call out for anyone to provide some video guides either to get high scores, start to finish playing all modes, or just doing special shots and showing how to do certain techniques like the back handers or a Bang back.

I don't understand the reasoning behind identical tables playing differently on FX2 versus Zen Pinball. It makes ZERO sense. It makes any kinds of comparisons from a scoring perspective completely irrelevant between the two. I really have to scratch my head at why the two suites are different in terms of playability. You DEFINITELY cannot trap the ball coming out of the mission hole on Excalibur in the 360 version. It comes down with entirely too much heat. Something as simply as that VASTLY changes how the game plays.

My recommendation, for the purposes of this thread, is to only permit videos where what is shown, is possible on the 360 version. That is...if you're going to use a video from the PS3's Zen Pinball, make sure the technique illustrated is feasible on the corresponding FX2 table. Unless of course, you simply want to show the general process.

2010 - Pinball FX 2 released. Appears to use a new or modified physics engine. Included tables are generally superior to previous efforts. Flipper trapping feels much more realistic, the ball's spin is more accurate, and the UI has been greatly overhauled. Many features added. Original Pinball FX 1 tables modified slightly, can be re-downloaded. PS3 users feel a little jealous.

Late 2010 - Marvel Pinball released for PS3 as a standalone app, and as tables for Pinball FX 2. Appears to use the same physics engine on both consoles. (i.e. uses the same engine as Pinball FX 2.)

[rampant speculation ahead]

2012 - "convergence" of Marvel Pinball and Zen Pinball to be released for PS3. Let's call it Zen Pinball 2 for now. Huzzah. Presumably will use (at least) the physics engine from Marvel/Pinball FX 2. Guess: original Zen Pinball tables may be upgraded to suit, as Pinball FX 1 tables were.

2012 - Pinball FX 2.5 released. At this point, Pinball FX and Zen Pinball are probably functionally similar, using the same physics engine, featuring much the same content (apart from platform exclusives).

Early 2012 - Zen Pinball 2 (or some platform like it) to be released for PC. To paraphrase Michelasso:

... as soon as it hits the PC market there will be millions of players and dozens of buyers...

Editorial: PC users will complain about having to pay $2.99 for DLC "when it should have been included in the purchase price", will complain about "console-itis" and "being dumbed down", have problems maintaining 60fps on their 8 year old PC and thus will blame "lazy developers", and will use all this as a justification for pirating it.

Early to mid 2012 - ZP2 to be released for PS Vita.

Late 2012 - ZP2 to be released for Wii U.

Oh, and for the record, the Earth Defense exploit, is gay.

Probably why they removed it in the 360 version.

However, the basic concept is still there. It's just that you have to work harder to start Air Strike Multiball.

And, it is a risk-reward thing: you can build up your Jackpot value, but you only score when you hit the Jackpot itself. And you have to ensure that you do this quickly enough so that Invasion doesn't interrupt the festivities.

I'm not entirely sure the Jackpot values in the 360 version are accurate. I'm almost certain it's been telling me my Jackpot values are far higher than what is being awarded. They seem to be out by an extra digit...

Another problem with Earth Defense is being awarded Locks as the skillshot. That really does make it worthwhile to simply restart the game until you get Locks, which is not something I want in a pinball.

(Maybe this could be fixed with a credits-unlocking system, like Pinball Hall of Fame's?)

I love Earth Defense, but the Invasion deal is quite annoying. If you hit the captive ball when everything's going swimmingly, it brings the invasion closer. If you hit it again...it brings it CLOSER. In fact the only way to really prevent it, is hitting it within a very small window. My score on ED is decent, but mostly because I don't spam the daylights out of the Airstrike Multiball like a certain individual whose name I won't mention. :-p

I love Earth Defense, but the Invasion deal is quite annoying. If you hit the captive ball when everything's going swimmingly, it brings the invasion closer. If you hit it again...it brings it CLOSER. In fact the only way to really prevent it, is hitting it within a very small window. My score on ED is decent, but mostly because I don't spam the daylights out of the Airstrike Multiball like a certain individual whose name I won't mention. :-p

My score on ED is decent, but mostly because I don't spam the daylights out of the Airstrike Multiball like a certain individual whose name I won't mention. :-p

He is referring to someone who tends to play the tables, "break them" (find the best scoring chance and exploit the crap out of it), and use that to make up for his lack of skill in actual virtual pinball. Not sure if Airstrike Multiball actually gives 100m when maxed out on 360 but it is still the way to go for best points on ED.

There is a video of Purple Vomit taking it to Speed Machine on Youtube. It is pre-PFX2 and some of the nauances have been changed (the kick from the mission hole, for one) but it is still a great video.

He is referring to someone who tends to play the tables, "break them" (find the best scoring chance and exploit the crap out of it), and use that to make up for his lack of skill in actual virtual pinball. Not sure if Airstrike Multiball actually gives 100m when maxed out on 360 but it is still the way to go for best points on ED.

Airstrike Multiball does pay out 100M on the 360 version using the same method of doubling the jackpot via the ramps.

Just for the record, I wouldn't describe the Earth Defense 100 million as an exploit. It's a legitimate part of the game, designed as risk-reward element.

But yeah, the PS3's use of the subway system from a skillshot is exploitable. Probably a good thing it was removed in PFX2.

The scoring system is also different between the two versions.

It was more of an inside joke between me and Uranusisbroken, he insists I always find a scoring grind and exploit it (airstrike multiball,romulus multiball,mine multiball, frenzy muliball)instead of playing the tables they way they are "supposed" to be played.

It was more of an inside joke between me and Uranusisbroken, he insists I always find a scoring grind and exploit it (airstrike multiball,romulus multiball,mine multiball, frenzy muliball)instead of playing the tables they way they are "supposed" to be played.

Just for the record, I wouldn't describe the Earth Defense 100 million as an exploit. It's a legitimate part of the game, designed as risk-reward element.

But yeah, the PS3's use of the subway system from a skillshot is exploitable. Probably a good thing it was removed in PFX2.

The scoring system is also different between the two versions.

It's an exploit, within the rules, but it is an exploit, this is opposed to an expoitation of a glitch to gain a highscore such as 40x Torch Multiplier. I won't be posting videos that are that kind of exploit.

He is referring to someone who tends to play the tables, "break them" (find the best scoring chance and exploit the crap out of it), and use that to make up for his lack of skill in actual virtual pinball. Not sure if Airstrike Multiball actually gives 100m when maxed out on 360 but it is still the way to go for best points on ED.

You know, my high score on ED is like, 117M. Today, on my first game of ED, I got the "LOCK IS LIT" for my skill shot. I started the Airstrike Multiball and trapped two balls on the left flipper. With ball on the right flipper, I beat the crap out of the left ramp repeatedly. I finished the mod with a score of 108M. Do you know I didn't top my high score?

However, the most important part is, I got over 100M on the multiball, and didn't even know it. I couldn't believe my score after that mode. It didn't feel like I had to hit that many shots to get it either.

Can't wait for a guide for this table. I have a total of 10 tables unlocked...I have all tables unlocked except 4....(you come up with how many I have unlocked because I can't remember exactly how many in total there are.) With about 10 tables unlocked I only truely know how to play 4. But I got Captain America table last night and I'm loving it. I could care less about about the other tables I have yet to play that I have unlocked. I rather play this table without knowing a thing rather than learning the other tables. I like how open the table is, and it's a "war" table. Chop chop guys get a guide together because I'm too newb to do it. So newb that I get excited about my measly 41m on Excalibur.

AirStrike Multiball will not give you 100 million points for 10 loop shots or so. Nor can you keep on doing this by nailing the Invasion captive ball a few times during multiball.

Don't even try it kids. It's not going to happen. Best not play Earth Defense at all.

Better go play Rocky & Bullwinkle instead. Leave Earth Defense to those of who like tiny scores.

I am telling you right now, I played a game today where the lock was lit right off the start of the game resulting from the skill shot. I IMMEDIATELY started the Air Strike Multiball, having completed ZERO missions prior. When the mode timed out, I had over 100M. Now, my sarcasm sensor might be a little wonky at this hour, but I can tell you definitively that I socred 100M on the Airstrike Multiball this morning. As for the Invasion captive ball, I cannot speak. I never tried to hit it as I had two balls trapped on the left flipper, and since the flipper was upright, I could not attempt that shot with the right flipper with out drilling the ball into the underside of the flipper and draining it. :-p

Can't wait for a guide for this table. I have a total of 10 tables unlocked...I have all tables unlocked except 4....(you come up with how many I have unlocked because I can't remember exactly how many in total there are.) With about 10 tables unlocked I only truely know how to play 4. But I got Captain America table last night and I'm loving it. I could care less about about the other tables I have yet to play that I have unlocked. I rather play this table without knowing a thing rather than learning the other tables. I like how open the table is, and it's a "war" table. Chop chop guys get a guide together because I'm too newb to do it. So newb that I get excited about my measly 41m on Excalibur.

Welcome to pinball bliss. LOL You'll have all the tables soon enough. Lots to learn, but it's a fun journey. Exaclibur is one of my favorite tables. I scored 297M on it once, and haven't come close since. EVen when you finally put up a whopper...it can be tough to get back there.

Can't wait for a guide for this table. I have a total of 10 tables unlocked...I have all tables unlocked except 4....(you come up with how many I have unlocked because I can't remember exactly how many in total there are.) With about 10 tables unlocked I only truely know how to play 4. But I got Captain America table last night and I'm loving it. I could care less about about the other tables I have yet to play that I have unlocked. I rather play this table without knowing a thing rather than learning the other tables. I like how open the table is, and it's a "war" table. Chop chop guys get a guide together because I'm too newb to do it. So newb that I get excited about my measly 41m on Excalibur.

Just read through the first impressions thread for Captain America as everything is discussed there. The tables ingame rulesheet also covers everything really well. A guide will also be posted on the Marvel pinball web-site soon I suspect so keep an eye on that.

I am telling you right now, I played a game today where the lock was lit right off the start of the game resulting from the skill shot.

I was kidding, guy.

Yes, Hypno74's tactic (or was it StevieJ's?) does work. But the scoring is slightly different from the PS3 version. You need about 10 shots on the loops to build up to 100 million.

If you get the "Hurry Up!" sound effect, then Invasion is coming. So you might as well ping away at the captive ball unless you are close to the 100 million, because Invasion will interrupt you anyway. It's much easier to stop Invasion during multiball, than to try and restart multiball through that horrendous Flyover ramp shot. (The goal here is to repeatedly score 100mil in the same multiball.)

Hypno74 spams the right ramp, but I find that shot a bit tricky on the move, preferring the left ramp. And sometimes I'll just let the third ball drain; it's easier that way.

If you aren't awarded Lock Lit from the the skillshot, you can earn it easily enough:

1. Hit the left ramp, then right ramp (or vice versa).

2. Hit the flashing mission shot. (If the mission shot is the Flyover ramp, good luck. I never bother going for that shot.)

3. Hit the left ramp and the right ramp again (or vice versa). Lock will now be lit.

(There are no time limits for any of the above. And if you flub a ramp shot, just do it again.)

Last edited by Womble; 07-09-2011 at 09:37 AM.
Reason: ramps, not orbits.

Yes, Hypno74's tactic (or was it StevieJ's?) does work. But the scoring is slightly different from the PS3 version. You need about 10 shots on the loops to build up to 100 million.

If you get the "Hurry Up!" sound effect, then Invasion is coming. So you might as well ping away at the captive ball unless you are close to the 100 million, because Invasion will interrupt you anyway. It's much easier to stop Invasion during multiball, than to try and restart multiball through that horrendous Flyover ramp shot. (The goal here is to repeatedly score 100mil in the same multiball.)

Hypno74 spams the right ramp, but I find that shot a bit tricky on the move, preferring the left ramp. And sometimes I'll just let the third ball drain; it's easier that way.

If you aren't awarded Lock Lit from the the skillshot, you can earn it easily enough:

1. Hit the left ramp, then right ramp (or vice versa).

2. Hit the flashing mission shot. (If the mission shot is the Flyover ramp, good luck. I never bother going for that shot.)

3. Hit the left ramp and the right ramp again (or vice versa). Lock will now be lit.

(There are no time limits for any of the above. And if you flub a ramp shot, just do it again.)

Geez, just tell them how to restart Airstrike Multi-ball if they lose the multiball while you are at it I can't belive the king of sarcasm UIB missed your sarcasm in your original post

Maybe it's just me, but suddenly some of the top scores...don't seem as impressive. Now, I'm not taking anything away from someone that gets to wizard mode, much less completes it. However, knowing that a large percentage of their score came from a mode lasting a couple minutes, versus all the time it took to get there.... I dunno. Just takes a little off for me. *shrug*

Maybe it's just me, but suddenly some of the top scores...don't seem as impressive. Now, I'm not taking anything away from someone that gets to wizard mode, much less completes it. However, knowing that a large percentage of their score came from a mode lasting a couple minutes, versus all the time it took to get there.... I dunno. Just takes a little off for me. *shrug*

That's kinda the whole point of wizard modes though. They provide a significant reward for progressing the table and clearing all the missions. The tables I enjoy the most are the ones where completing the missions and progressing to wizard mode and winning are a significant reward. That way I have incentive to play all the different and varied modes ZEN's tables have to offer. Without that payout for completing the missions and wizard mode, all you have is grinding out one mode, or one series of shots for the best score potential.

Yes, for some of these tables a large portion of the scores are going to come from wizard modes, and you can like it or not, I'm not going to say your opinion is invalid, but for me, table modes and mission progression are meaningless if there isn't a worthwhile payout at the end to reward completion.

That's kinda the whole point of wizard modes though. They provide a significant reward for progressing the table and clearing all the missions. The tables I enjoy the most are the ones where completing the missions and progressing to wizard mode and winning are a significant reward. That way I have incentive to play all the different and varied modes ZEN's tables have to offer. Without that payout for completing the missions and wizard mode, all you have is grinding out one mode, or one series of shots for the best score potential.

Yes, for some of these tables a large portion of the scores are going to come from wizard modes, and you can like it or not, I'm not going to say your opinion is invalid, but for me, table modes and mission progression are meaningless if there isn't a worthwhile payout at the end to reward completion.

I see your point. I suppose my opinion is biased based on the fact that I've only reached wizard mode four times, and two of them were in one game of Wolverine. LOL I guess all my scores are the result of grinding out the table in general. Most of the tables I play like Biolab and Captain America...really don't let you grind a mode because once you complete it, it's unavailable until you go through wizard mode. However, tables like Wolverine or SoTD will let you beat up a mode over and over again. I don't enjoy that approach, however, so it's not part of my game. I'm not a guy that's going to make hay on a table until I've spent an obscene amount of time on it. I'm just not a natural.

I see your point. I suppose my opinion is biased based on the fact that I've only reached wizard mode four times, and two of them were in one game of Wolverine. LOL I guess all my scores are the result of grinding out the table in general. Most of the tables I play like Biolab and Captain America...really don't let you grind a mode because once you complete it, it's unavailable until you go through wizard mode. However, tables like Wolverine or SoTD will let you beat up a mode over and over again. I don't enjoy that approach, however, so it's not part of my game. I'm not a guy that's going to make hay on a table until I've spent an obscene amount of time on it. I'm just not a natural.

I for one really love the idea of playing through a table, reaching wizard mode and getting the big reward. No point in understating it... I absolutely hate the idea of grinding any mode and as a result all the tables that have that option tend to not be my favourites or my scores on them are never going to reach the mega Billions. I'm just glad that Zen is going to change the tournament structure away from super long games.

The risk in general is much higher playing through all the different modes to reach wizard mode because you are exposing yourself to all the different bounces and angles that the ball can come at you.... so the award for reaching and completing Wizard mode should be worth its proverbial weight in gold.

I know Wolverine has spamming opportunities but yesterday I had two really good games for me on it and I learned a valuable lesson in my second game for not playing the table to its full strategic potential. In the first game I reached Wizard mode twice and had a score of 750 mil, in the second game I reached the Wizard mode four (or even 5 times... can't remember exactly) and to my dismay my score was not as ridiculously high as I thought it was going to be, only 950 mil (which is my highest score so I am still very happy). The big difference I realised is that in my first game I went for Adamantium ball which can result in up to a 4x wizard mode boost and in the second game I didn't because I followed advise that said it is risky (which it is) because you lose your kickbacks and claw save. If you are going to spam the table e.g. Sentinel mission, well then time is going to be the factor because you can keep claw save activated indefinitely but it is definitely not as rewarding as playing through the wizard mode.

I really love Biolab, completely understands blue's brilliant strategy but just don't have the skills and am not able to have a long enough game (yet!!!) to fully make use of it. I really respect the high scores on that table because I can see anything is possible with its scoring strategy potential.

I don't believe I am a natural because I have spent obscene amounts of time on this game and none of my scores have come easily. I am constantly improving though and am finding it much easier now to do well on a new table. My goal from the beginning (after I learned what Wizard mode was) was to reach and finish all the tables wizard modes (only newer ones). I'm too scared to see how much time I have spent on each table... I am sure I have reached 30 hours on some of them

Apologies for the long post again... if you knew me in real live you would know that I suffer from a bad case of verbal diarrhoea

Last edited by Cloda; 07-11-2011 at 12:36 PM.
Reason: spelling and added some points

I know Wolverine has spamming opportunities but yesterday I had two really good games for me on it and I learned a valuable lesson in my second game for not playing the table to its full strategic potential. In the first game I reached Wizard mode twice and had a score of 750 mil, in the second game I reached the Wizard mode four (or even 5 times... can't remember exactly) and to my dismay my score was not as ridiculously high as I thought it was going to be, only 950 mil (which is my highest score so I am still very happy).

Yeah thanks for slaughtering my hi score on this table, and the only table that i for a little while had an higher score on than you

Yeah thanks for slaughtering my hi score on this table, and the only table that i for a little while had an higher score on than you

That's ok. I only have 2 people on this entire forum on my friends list thus far...Cloda and Rapier. I went from having the ribbon/medal on every table, to having it on ONE. The rest... I'm not even in the same ******* ballpark, the same league, I'm not even sure it's even the same ******* sport.

LOL I love Pulp Fiction. What a great table that would be. That AND Reservoir Dogs.

That's ok. I only have 2 people on this entire forum on my friends list thus far...Cloda and Rapier. I went from having the ribbon/medal on every table, to having it on ONE. The rest... I'm not even in the same ******* ballpark, the same league, I'm not even sure it's even the same ******* sport.

LOL I love Pulp Fiction. What a great table that would be. That AND Reservoir Dogs.

Yeah thanks for slaughtering my hi score on this table, and the only table that i for a little while had an higher score on than you

Sorry man... on my friends list I think I'm about 7th.

Originally Posted by UranusIsBroken

That's ok. I only have 2 people on this entire forum on my friends list thus far...Cloda and Rapier. I went from having the ribbon/medal on every table, to having it on ONE. The rest... I'm not even in the same ******* ballpark, the same league, I'm not even sure it's even the same ******* sport.

I don't even have one ribbon/medal on any of the tables. I'm more or less around 10-15 spot on my friends list and only on a couple of tables am I in the top 10. Talk about a steep challenge

Sounds familiar. I have Hypno74 on my list... 'Everytime' (read: that one time) I get a score higher than his , I get a friendly "well played, Steviej". And 2 days later, he's tripled it

LMAO I know how THAT feels. I JUST scored 271M on Secrets of the Deep, enough to overtake Rapier and his 267M. But I forgot that I added Cloda recently, and I'm 306M shy of his mark, so....no ribbon for me. LOL
The only tables I'm beating Cloda at are the ones he absolutely refuses to even play. LOL

The ONLY table I have a ribbon on, is Excalibur. I have 297M on that, and it's probably safe for a brief moment or two.

I tried sending you a request, but it would appear you have too many friends already, and no room for me. :-p Just got 488M on SoTD. Just 89M more and I'd have had Cloda. :-p God...that game took FOREVER.

Guess this is the congrats screen when you do everything for the 4 core Marvel Pinball tables.

If you have the highest Hero score compared to your friends on your friends list, then that screen will appear. That's for the PS3 version though. I'm not sure if Pinball FX 2 has the same thing or not.

play to level 5 on jj? then restart the table,then i made the four missions only one level

take the final

and then i get 62mio for one orbit? is that right?

No, you keep on completing the mission as many times as you can. When the game is over, the level is saved. Now start up a new game and keep on completing that mission.

If you look at the DMD in the beginning of the video (he points it out). JJ's level on his game is over 200. This is the way to increase the ramp values on the Clone Chaos mode.

Once you boosted the level to your liking (it'll take a long time to get it up to his level), then start up Clone Chaos mode and you can start racking up the points by hitting the ramps and orbits. It's even better if you can start up the Clone Chaos Multiball, which increases the ramp and orbit values even more.

Wolverine

The text is a little hard to see, but the gameplay is clear enough, and Oz shows some good dead-bounce passing skills (which are very useful on all tables, but particularly this one).

FWIW, I'll just point out that repeatedly getting H-E-A-L is a good idea. Each time builds the Regeneration bonus, which is payable when you successful regenerate (drain through right outlane, hit the Weapon X tank shot). On a long ball, this can easily amount to a ~30 million bonus, with no effort.

The text is a little hard to see, but the gameplay is clear enough, and Oz shows some good dead-bounce passing skills (which are very useful on all tables, but particularly this one).

Thanks. Yeah something happened with the text. In my preview it had a silver outline around it but when it went on Youtube, no outline. Dead bounce passing comes from table knowledge and experience. After a while you get to know almost every possible angle that the ball falls and often just a touch of a ramp or top flipper is enough to let you know the angle is safe to just let it bounce. Trying to catch a falling ball is often more risky than just letting it fall. Its also pretty obvious I don't play multiball much on this table. Things that work on other tables didn't work as well on this table and it shows by my failures in the video.

FWIW, I'll just point out that repeatedly getting H-E-A-L is a good idea. Each time builds the Regeneration bonus, which is payable when you successful regenerate (drain through right outlane, hit the Weapon X tank shot). On a long ball, this can easily amount to a ~30 million bonus, with no effort.

Yep this is one table where you actually do want to spell out all inlane lights over and over, rather than most tables (where kickback activation is their purpose) where its better to always just keep one letter unlit, so if a kickback is lost you are only one letter away from regaining it.

There's also some intermediate skills on display, including dead-flipper passing, loop-passes and post-passing (aka slingshot passing).

Thanks for posting my vids mate, its appreciated.

I agree some of those skills do start to fall into the intermediate category but I think sometimes if people just see something, like a backhanded shot, it at least gets them thinking about them. Its nothing special to most people here but to a complete novice it could completely change the way they see the game, well hopefully anyway.

Damn "post passing", of course. I knew "slingshot pass" wasn't the official term but had heard them called that. I just couldn't think at the time what they were called. Oh well at least people now know what a 'slingshot' is, if they didn't know before. I know I didn't know what they were called when I was starting out.

Wolverine SNIKT Activation

In this clip you will see a very quick and efficient and quite low risk way to activate SNIKT. Even if you are only able to successfully spell one or two letters using this method, you can then quickly spell the rest because you still have all three of your nudge warnings left. The only risk with this is if the ball for some or other reason don't come out of the SNIKT hole with enough speed.

In my endeavours to record a successful SNIKT activation using a quick and efficient method I found, I had to repeat it many times before I to finally got it right. This clip is one of my failed attempts where I managed to activate the last letter using quite and unconventional but very cool looking shot - unplanned off course!!!

His Vid Description - Here's the first 40 minutes of one of my Ms Splosion Man games, with all the missions, Zip Line, Extra Ball, Cannon & Achievements unlocked.
I was planning on recording the whole game but it'll take to long, & i need breaks on this table.

I've not finished this game yet but it looks like its gonna be a high scorer, my best so far is 1 Billion, 200mil.

I always need a bit of luck to go my way to beat him and I got my fair share of it in this video but it feels good to get this on video. This is only the 6th time I have beaten him out of many, many attempts. Ultimo never gets easy because of the ways he blocks the table angles. It makes it almost impossible to predict where a ball is going to go because his imposing figure changes the table so much.

It was more of an inside joke between me and Uranusisbroken, he insists I always find a scoring grind and exploit it (airstrike multiball,romulus multiball,mine multiball, frenzy muliball)instead of playing the tables they way they are "supposed" to be played.